The Neomercantilists - by Eric Helleiner (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

As critiques of free trade policies grow, The Neomercantilists sheds light on the protectionist turn, offering the first intellectual history of neomercantilism's evolution.

Eric Helleiner traces the ideology's pioneers from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, highlighting advocates of strategic protectionism and government economic activism to promote state power. While Friedrich List is well known, Helleiner also highlights lesser-known thinkers, many from beyond the West.

Helleiner's focus on neomercantilism's diverse origins challenges Western-centric accounts of its history. He uncovers neglected regional traditions and global exchanges of ideas that shaped distinct versions of the ideology in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. These ideas endure, influencing the two dominant powers in today's world economy: China and the United States.

The Neomercantilists is a groundbreaking study of influential economic ideas. It links the past to the present, urging more global approaches to studying political economy and the cross-border circulation of thought.

Review Quotes

A grand work of scholarship, the book easily accomplishes its goal of disrupting Western and List-centric readings of neomercantilism.

The strength of [this book] is [its] extraordinary breadth. [S]eventy-four different neomercantilists receive at least a paragraph from Helleiner, though many more are mentioned.The result is eye-opening.

Helleiner is perhaps the most distinguished scholar in his generation of international political economists... Helleiner shows that there were as many flavors of neomercantilism as there were national, imperial, and postcolonial traditions.

[The Neomercantalists is a] thorough and careful scholarly work conducted at the highest level, and [it] has provided arguments about the global circulation of ideas and the drivers of change and transformation that will resonate and be engaged with by scholars within and beyond IPE.

Helleiner's book is essential for grasping earlier theories of state-led development that diverged from classical liberalism, as well as their relevance in an era where pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions and Russia's war in Ukraine have further eroded confidence globalization.

This book is refreshing and fascinating--and not only for filling a gap in the broad ideological intellectual history[.] The book provides an excellent intellectual history of neomercantilism. Conveniently structured (some parts can be read on their own), beautifully written and well researched, it is one of the most significant IPE books I have had the pleasure to read in recent years.

About the Author

Eric Helleiner is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and a faculty member of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. He is the author of Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods and The Contested World Economy.